ALBANY - Efforts to allow four upstate casinos and ones run by Native American casinos to allow for online sports betting is getting a boost from key state lawmakers who have introduced a new bill to make it happen.

The measure would let the four upstate casinos in the Southern Tier, Finger Lakes, Albany area and the Catskills to not only have sports betting on-site, but also allow wagering on customers' phones and computers run by the casinos and the seven upstate Native American ones.

Senate Racing Committee chairman Joseph Addabbo, D-Queens, argued it would be legal and should be pursued as a way to help the four upstate casinos, which have largely struggled after beginning to open more than two years ago.

Addabbo said New Jersey is benefitting from New Yorkers crossing the border to place bets, holding up a news article that reported on the revenue in New Jersey.

"We could sit and watch it go by or we could do something about it," he said at the opening of a hearing on the issue Wednesday. "I'll remain optimistic that we can do something about it this session."

"I think our state could do so much better. Being New York, I think we could do a far, far better job in terms of sports betting and again protecting all the concerns."

What happens next?

State lawmakers are trying to allow mobile sports betting through four upstate casinos, including del Lago in the Finger Lakes.(Photo: File photo)

But the big bucks would be to allow the casinos to offer mobile betting.

Without mobile betting, the revenue would be limited, said Thomas Wilmot Jr., whose family is an owner of the del Lago casino in Tyre, Seneca County.

He said just 20 percent of the sport betting in New Jersey has come from on-site betting; the majority is online.

"The bottomline on sports betting is crystal clear for us: Without mobile, New York will not come anywhere close to fully maximizing the sports betting revenue our casinos, state education aid and our local communities all greatly need," Wilmot testified at Wednesday's hearing.

To that point, the lawmakers excluded a further expansion of sports betting that they had considered: allowing Off-Track Betting corporations; the New York Racing Association and racetracks with video-lottery terminals to also allow sports betting.

They were not included in the bill, Pretlow said, because lawmakers do not want to draw any other constitutional concerns, saying online betting could ultimately be expanded to those entities.

He and Addabbo said they are hopeful a deal can be reached with fellow lawmakers and Cuomo's office before the legislative session ends mid-June.

Sports leagues weigh in

Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer, D-Yonkers, said any legislation should allow so-called racinos to have sports betting on-site and online, including the MGM-owned Empire City Casino in Yonkers.

"I think it should be able on mobile phones and I think it should be available downstate," she said Wednesday. "There is a both a market for it and revenue, which the state needs."

The NFL, NBA and the PGA testified Wednesday about their concerns about legalizing sports betting in New York.

They didn't offer opposition the proposal, but urged that several provisions need to be included, such as providing compensation to the leagues, ensuring proper oversight of bets and using league data when bets are determined to fight fraud.

Daniel Spillane, a senior vice president for the NBA, said New York is in a unique situation because it is home to a plethora of sports teams and the headquarters for most major league organizations.

"We think there is a unique opportunity for New York to adopt an approach to sports betting that treats sports leagues as partners and key stakeholders, rather than bystanders, which can create a model for other states and make New York a national leader on this issue," he said.

Sports teams themselves have also indicated they would ultimately like to be able to offer betting at their stadiums and arenas.

The Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres, for example, has lobbied state lawmakers to let betting happen within their venues.